Success Stories
Johnny Adams
Forced to evacuate from New Orleans 48 hours before Hurricane Katrina hit, Johnny Adams had to leave most of his worthy possessions behind including being a co-owner and production manager of the company formerly known as Livewire Entertainment. He was separated from his immediate family members and his entire neighborhood was destroyed. Johnny and his uncle decided to take a one-way trip to Austin where he started searching for a job at the Work Source Career Center. From there he was eventually referred to Goodwill Staffing Services (GSS) where support was available from the National Emergency Grant for hurricane survivors.
Initially, Johnny was seeking any type of employment to help get himself established in Austin so he was placed in one of Goodwill's retail stores. His interest in computers led to an assignment at Goodwill's Computer Works store where his responsibilities grew from working the dock to doing inventory on a laptop to learning how to test motherboards.
During this time, Johnny took advantage of a grant offered to hurricane victims for schooling and enrolled in computer technology classes. He successfully completed his courses, graduating at the top of his class and becoming certified as a Microsoft technician. He quickly made a name for himself and was offered a permanent position at Computer Works.
And how does Johnny like his job? “I love it. It's a great job,” he states. “I have a lot of responsibilities, more than just a technician. I do some accounting tasks, build PCs, test parts and so much more.”
Without a doubt, Johnny will continue to succeed due to his high work ethics as well as keeping Goodwill's standards.
“I would like to move up and some day, run a Computer Works store,” said Johnny. “Although I would like to continue building systems and putting together the finishing touches to them.”
Johnny was employee of the month and employee of the year with GSS and now a Hall of Honor inductee. “I feel very honored and very appreciated. This is the first job where I feel appreciated,” Johnny said. “And I am so glad to be here in Austin. It's the best city, kind of like home away from home.”
When he's not at work, he still enjoys producing CDs for independent bands with the equipment he was able to save from his evacuation.